Economic news drives down consumer confidence

Canadian consumer confidence has taken a hit amidst negative reports on employment, continuing high gas prices, the markets, and the yet to be resolved debt crisis, according to the TNS Consumer Confidence Index for July.

The index stood at 99.7 in July, down after three consecutive months of gains. The June index was at 100.3.

“You can only take so much bad news about the economy before you start believing it yourself,” says Norman Baillie-David, vice-president of TNS Canada and director of the marketing and social research firm’s monthly tracking study. “Despite these being the dog days of summer, economic news has been negative lately, and this eventually shows up in how people tend to feel about future prospects, and especially how they feel about making big purchases.”

The Buy Index, which measures the extent to which Canadians’ feel that now is a good time to purchase a “big ticket item” such as a car or major household appliances, dropped from 95.4 to 93.3, losing gains it had made through the spring.

On a more positive note, the Present Situation Index, which measures how people feel about the economy right now, was almost unchanged, up very slightly, from 100.1 to 100.3. And the Expectations Index, which measures people’s outlook for the economy six months from now, remains unchanged at 105.4.

Consumer Confidence Index tracks Canadians’ attitudes about the economy each month and is part of a global study conducted by TNS in 18 countries. A total of 1,015 nationally representative Canadian adults were interviewed between July 11 and July 15, 2011. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.